UK's top ten most expensive traffic cameras which rake in MILLIONS

by · Mail Online

Traffic cameras are making millions of pounds from motorists for cash-hungry councils. 

It was revealed last week that Bull Lane, in Enfield, raked in an eye-watering £8million since the bus gate opened in August last year. 

While the bus lane in Oxford Road, Manchester, is thought to be one of the most lucrative traffic camera areas in Britain having made more than £10million in 17 months for Labour-run Manchester City Council. 

Most of the cash-generating areas are believed to be in London with an eye-watering £3.2million worth of penalty fines being generated in 2021 by cameras at Bank Junction. 

Meanwhile, outside of the capital, in Birmingham, the city council has placed a raft of cameras along Moor Street, in Queensway, which have made a whopping £3,945,300 in the 2021/22 financial year alone. 

Do you know a worse traffic camera spot? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk 

Drivers who break the rules will be caught by Enfield council's automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera monitoring the road
The bus gate on Bull Lane (pictured), which excludes all motor vehicles except buses, was set up to promote 'active travel' on a north London industrial estate in August 2023

The Bull Lane bus gate camera led to unfounded suggestions it had been placed near North Middlesex University Hospital and Tottenham Hotspurs' football stadium in order to 'maximise fines'.

September 2023 saw the bus gate serve 18,185 fines, worth £2.3million if paid in full rather that the reduced £65 rate, the Telegraph reported. 

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Motorists fined £8million a year by traffic camera installed by Labour council next to an MOT centre

Data released by the council under freedom of information laws show the camera was handing out the equivalent to 172 penalty charge notices (PCNs) each day, worth up to £22,000.  

Lucas Stavrinou of Demitris Motor Repairs, an MOT centre next to the gate, said: 'Customers won't come here because they have already had numerous fines or don't want to risk getting another.'

The dismayed trader also described how a 'drop in trade' had resulted in him reducing his workforce from five to three mechanics.

Hassan Orhan, a manager at Elite Bathrooms and Plumbing, which has a warehouse on the lane, told of how delivery drivers face a 'nightmare'.

He said: 'It's a disaster. Everyone objected because we knew it would deter customers coming. The council went ahead anyway.

'There's been no increase in cycling or people walking. It's a council cash cow.'

Enfield Council insisted it conducted a 'comprehensive engagement process' and adjusted the scheme following feedback and a safety audit.

The traffic cameras covering the bus lane in Oxford Road, Manchester, is thought to be one of the most lucrative areas in Britain having made more than £10million in 17 months for Labour-run Manchester City Council
Restrictions, which were brought in during 2017, mean that only buses, black cabs and pedal cycles are allowed on Oxford Road between 6am and 9pm
An eye-watering £3.2million worth of penalty fines were generated in 2021 by cameras at Bank Junction in the City of London
Meanwhile, outside of the capital, in Birmingham , the city council has placed a raft of cameras along Moor Street, in Queensway, which have made a whopping £3,945,300 alone in the financial year for 2021/22

A spokesman said 'the majority' of PCNs are paid within two weeks at the lower £65 rate, so total income over the last year was significantly lower than the maximum possible amount.

In December 2023, a freedom of information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found thousands of drivers had been issued with fines for driving along the Oxford Road bus gate in Manchester. 

From April 2022 to September 2023, a total of £10,241,545.13 was collected by the council, reported the Manchester Evening News. 

That amounts to an estimated £602,443 a month or £7,229,325 in a year. 

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Bus gates covering major street in Manchester city centre raked in £10million in 18 months, figures show

The council said the money is reinvested into its road network to carry out repairs and maintenance. 

The signs on some sections of the road were deemed in 2018 to be 'inadequate' by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal with motorists saying they were 'confusing'.

At the time, the tribunal said 530 of 600 drivers successfully appealed against their fines with 60pc of those on the grounds of poor signage.   

A spokesperson for Manchester Council said: 'There are no current plans to change or add to the number of signs already in place to alert motorists to the bus lane.

'The council is content that the signs that are in place are adequate, that they meet the legal requirements and are prominent enough to make the bus lane restrictions clear to motorists.  

'The income generated through penalties supports the costs of operating the camera enforcement and processing penalty charge notices. The use of any surplus income that is generated beyond those costs is set out in the legislation which governs bus lane enforcement.

'This essentially ring fences that income for use on environmental improvements, public transport services or highway improvements in Manchester.'